Animal trap



Nov. Il, 1924. 1,515,083

W. A. wlLKlNs ANIMAL TRAP Filed July 20. 1920 I N VEN TOR.

BY A

" A TT ORNE Y.

Cil

,Trapsi of which the' latented Nov. 11, i924.

ANIMAL TRAY.'

Application inea my zo, 1920; sensi No. 3973644.

El@ all @0.7mm t may con/Jean.'

Pe ityknownI that L Winnie A. VVILKiNs, a citizen of the e' itedV Statesl residing; at .llallulfn.` in the county ci? lssaquena a-nd State oli Mississippi, have invented Acerta-in new andl useful Temprevenients' in `Animal following is a specification.

i. invention relates to ranimal traps and has 'tor its primary purpose to provide a trap which is designed for quick `and eilicient operation whereby the animal is lured into the trap so to be securely and safely lodged therein without any possibility ot escape;v

further object of the invention resides inthe provision automatically'operated meansv for closing. the entrance ot the trap after the animal has passed therethrough, this means being so connected and arranged as to be instantaneously operatedv upon movement of the bait holder. f

llVith' the above and other objects in view, the invention may be said to residegenera-lly in the detailsv of construction7 combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out andl described, reference being had to the drawings wherein- Y Figure 1 is a plan viewof the invention witl'rthe top of the cage removed.

Figure E2" is a verticallongitudinal section.

Figure 3 is a fragmentarydetail view: of the springI doordat'ch. Y

Figure 4 is plan view of the platform and Figure' 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4 looking in the direction oi arrows.

The cage 1 may be constructed of solid wood or metal andot1 any desired shape and form suitable to provide an adequate housing for the trapped animal. end of the cage an entrance 2 is provided which opens into a passageway formed beV tween the side wall 3 of the cage and the inner partition 4. Arranged in this passageway is a platform 5, one end of which is hinged as indicated at 6 adjacent the opening 2 so that it is free to swing upwardly as shown by the dotted line structure of Figure 2. The inner end of this platform is provided with a reduced portion 7 which rests in a swing or loop member carried by the door 9 when the door drops to its closed position. This loop may be in the form of a lli-shaped wire having its At one terminal ends pivotall-y connected to the door ,as at 10.l and extendingdownwardly and under the reduced' portionk `7y of the platform so as to providea support for the saine, being either disposed loosely there;- under or pivotaglly connected to the platform as may beldesired. rllhe ,doork 9 is adapted to swing from a supporting rodl 11 entend'- ing across the inner end ofthe passageway, being supported by the wall 3 and partition 4 as rshown inl thel drawings Vlhenl operated so as to swing downwardlyythis door completely closes the passageway and:y prevents any escape from ihetrap. f

To'operate thedoona suitable trip ,mechanisni is providedY and` consists irst al f trigger device 12 which may be `formed of wire bentA to provide angularly extending members forming respectively a bait holder' 13 and a trigger linger 14. This trigger member is designed to. be suspended by the hangerl? from the top. wall/of the trap in direct Vline with the passageway so that the bait is clearly visible; through the passageway from the outside rofthe trap; This would of course, be'. probably necessary only when the' trap is inthe yform of a closed casing, with a solid wall, although thirelocation` is particularly desirable because of itset'ectiveness in guiding and inducing the animal through the trap.. entrance. Arranged between the' trigger-.device and the door 9 is a stay me-mbeijyfl, .likewisev suspended from the top wall of the trap by means of a link laand# formed preferably of awire bent to? provide oppositely projecting portions which are adapted to engage kunder the `door 9- and trigger finger 14respeetively as illustrated. The; end of the stay engaging the trip linger Yis preferably made Hat as indicated at 16 to engage the trigger mechanism to be adequately set for operation, it being evident that the slightest movement of the bait holder 13 will tend to throw the finger 14 out oit engagement with the stay member and thus release the draw or drop 9. The trigger 12, it is to be here understood is of course loosely engaged with the supporting hanger 12:L so as to be capable of lateral swinging movement whenever the bait holder is disturbed.

lThe dropping of the door 9 would ordinarily tend to seal the passage and'prevent nature', the door may be more positively locked and held in place by means of a spring latch l?. This latch is adapted to be arranged on a pivot, as indie-ated at 1S and located upon the floor of the trap and underneath the platform 5 as illustrated, the end 17a of the latch extending upwardly from one side of the pivot to bear against the under part of the platform while the opposite end 17b vprojects inwardly and upwardly beyond the terminal end of the plat-- form and carries a hook 19. rlhis hook is'to catch onto the loop 20 fastened to the end of door 9. It is to be here noted that the hook` 19 is normally held in a raised position by reason of the bent rear portion of the latch. Consequently as the platform is raised the hook is permitted to descend. When the door 9 descends, the loop 20 slides over 'the hook 197 thereby securely holding the door in a locked position, as is clearly illustrated in `Figure 3 of the drawing. The movements of the various parts, however7 are so regulated that the door 9 is permitted to drop downwardly in sufficient time to permit the loop 20 to be engaged by the depending hook. A strip, indicated at 2l is placed toward the end of the passage, in front of the latch so as to prevent any tampering with the same. Access to the interior of the trap for the purpose of setting the bait, may be afforded through the top by suitable door means 22 as shown. y

When set, the various parts of the trap are about as shown in full lines in Figure 2 of the drawing. The stay l5 supports the free end of the door 9 and the trigger linger 14:, leaving the passage or entrance to the trap clear and the bait clearly visable therethrough. As the rodent or other animal passes into the trap and attempts to seize the bait, the consequent movement of the trigger disengages the finger from the stay whereupon the latter being unable to longer support the door, releases the same so that the latter swings downwardly to close the passage. The closing of the trap door raises the platform 5 through the medium of the swing 8, causing the `hook 19 of the 'and corrections in regard to the details of construction, design, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to provided they are such as properly fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. A trap comprising an animal receiving vclosure having an entrance opening at one end, a hinged platform disposed within the entrance opening, a. swinging door and a U-shaped member depending therefrom supporting said platform, a combined trigger and bait holder within the closure, a stay member for retaining the trigger and door in their set position and means below the platform for locking the door when dropped to its closed position.

2. A trap comprising an animal receiving closure having an entrance opening at one end, a hinged platform disposed within the entrance opening, a swinging door having a U-shaped member depending from one end for supporting said platform and a loop carried at its opposite end, a combined trigger and bait-holder fo-r retaining the door in open position and a latch pivoted beneath the platform for engagement with the loop of the door.

ln testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIE A. VVILKINS.

Witnesses:

Mrs. M. JONES, JNO. C. BROWN. 

